Compare and Contrast Online With Traditional Shopping

Shopping

Online shopping is starting to replace traditional in-person shopping in many situations. Few stores can get away without an online presence of some sort, because consumers have come to expect the ability to shop from their own homes. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving Thursday, is known in the retail sector as the biggest shopping day of the year But Black Friday has a competitor, thanks to the online shopping revolution. That competitor is Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday is the online shopping version of Black Friday, with big bargains that drive consumer spending practices. Cyber Monday is now as important as Black Friday, primarily because online shopping has become more common. However, there are many differences between online and traditional shopping that are important to keep in mind, from the retailer's and the consumer's standpoints. For one, online shopping is a completely different user experience than shopping in a store. Second, online shopping does not allow for interaction with the merchandise like traditional shopping does. Finally, online shopping offers access to a greater inventory than shopping in-store. Different user experience, different levels of interaction with merchandise, and different inventory access all have an impact on both consumer and retailer.

The user experience in an online shopping environment is completely different from that of the traditional store. One of the reasons why the user experience in an online shopping environment is different from that in a traditional store is convenience. A person can wake up and shop for their items in pajamas, or do the same thing at three o'clock in the morning. Traditional shopping requires that the individual get dressed and visit the store during certain hours, and those hours might conflict with work and family. Moreover, the brick-and-mortar store requires driving and parking, which can be a hassle. Online shoppers do not have to deal with their cars to go shopping. Second, the user experience online is relatively private. Except for anonymous user statistics gathering, the online shopping experience entails total privacy for the user. If a person wants to buy sex toys and guns, they can do so without anyone knowing. If that same person bought sex toys and guns in a store, they would be seen by anyone who was out that day.

The online shopping experience and traditional shopping also differs in terms of access to the merchandise. In a store, a person can touch and feel the items. The shopper can try on clothes and shoes to make sure they fit. This is impossible in an online store, which is why "online marketers may joke that Best Buy and other big-box retailers have become the local showroom for Amazon, Zappos and other online-only retailers," (Sullivan, 2012).